Hate Crime Targets LGBT Activists in Yerevan

The Five activists were attacked and beaten by three unknown assailants on Yerevan’s Moskovyan Street at around 9 p.m. (Source: inyerevan.blogspot.com)

The Five activists were attacked and beaten by three unknown assailants on Yerevan’s Moskovyan Street at around 9 p.m. (Source: inyerevan.blogspot.com)

From The Armenian Weekly

YEREVAN — A hate crime against LGBT activists in Yerevan on Feb. 15 highlighted the discrimination against LGBT individuals in the country. The Five activists were attacked and beaten by three unknown assailants on Yerevan’s Moskovyan Street at around 9 p.m.

The Five activists were attacked and beaten by three unknown assailants on Yerevan’s Moskovyan Street at around 9 p.m. (Photo: inyerevan.blogspot.com)

The assailants reportedly cursed and began beating one of the activists. When the victim’s friends rushed to help, they too were subjected to beatings. The attackers mocked the physical appearance of the first victim, and used homophobic hate slurs.

Two of the victims work at Public Knowledge and Need to Know (Pink) Armenia, an organization that defends LGBT rights in the country.

The following day, when the first victim admitted himself to the N1 hospital in Yerevan, once again he faced discrimination. According to Mamikon Hovsepian, head of Pink Armenia, one of the medical professionals told the victim, “Come, let’s do a blood test on you. Let’s see if you have a deviance. [We’ll] cure the deviance,â€

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